[tlhIngan Hol] rIjwI' for anchor ?

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Mon Apr 8 08:13:54 PDT 2019


Here's the quote that Daniel was thinking of:

KGT 74:   There are several types of Klingon musical instruments. Collectively, they are known as {QoQ jan} or {QoQ janmey} ... {QoQ}, as noted above, means "music"; {jan} is normally translated as "device" and is usually applied to some sort of sophisticated apparatus, but its use in {QoQ jan} may point to an earlier and less limited meaning, something like "implement." ... the general term for "play a musical instrument" is {chu'}, which, when applied to technologically advanced devices, including weapons, means "activate." Indeed, out of context, {jan chu'} could mean either "activate the device" or "play the instrument," which may be why {QoQ jan} ("musical instrument") is seldom shortened to simply {jan}.

Note the last sentence.

Okrand also uses the English word "device" in KGT for {So'wI'} cloaking device, {tuQDoq} "mind-sifter/ripper," {QIghpej} a hand-held torture device (called an agonizer in TOS Mirror, Mirror"), as well as:

KGT 56:  ... "phaser," may also apply to the Klingon disrupter, but it is used just as often to refer to the Romulan disrupter, Federation phaser, and other similar devices.

KGT 183:  The word {Qop} means "be worn out" and is usually applied to old weapons, tools, mechanical devices, and the like.

However he also uses "device" for simple cooking implements:

KGT 97-98:  The stick used for stirring in a {'un} ("pot") is usually called a {DuDwI'} ("mixer"), though sometimes the term {'un naQ} ("pot cane") is heard. If the end of the {DuDwI'} is flattened out, paddlelike, the device may also be called a {ngawDeq}.  A scooping implement, much like a garden trowel, used to remove food from a pot, is a {bo'Dagh}.

Note that in the last sentence he actually uses the word "implement" which he generally uses for relativel simple "devices":

KGT 97:    The equipment needed for the preparation of Klingon food is rather minimal, consisting pretty much of pots or vats plus cutting and stirring implements of various sorts. [....] For example, a {warjun} is a large, extremely sharp, square-bladed chopping implement (but for its short handle, it would probably be considered a kind of {'obmaQ} ["ax"].

KGT 57: Indeed, elements of Klingon society were highly resistant to technological innovation, but they were ultimately convinced by others of its practical advantages. Nevertheless, the traditional forms—and tools--of combat have endured, and not just as anachronistic curiosities. Along with the ancient skills and implements, of course, is the associated terminology.

KGT 63:    The traditional Klingon arsenal also includes the ax, an implement with a heavy, flattened blade mounted crosswise at the end of a handle.

KGT 66:    Of similar shape to a spear, but utterly distinct, is the painstik, {'oy'naQ}, a long staff that emits a powerful (and painful) jolt of electricity ({'ul}). Though not an implement of ancient origins (its use of electricity attests to that), it is nonetheless usually used ceremonially,

KGT 75:  ... weapons and uniforms are embellished with distinctive decoration, ceremonial implements feature classic patterns.

KGT 79:  To apply these techniques, specialized tools are employed: the {nanwI'} ("chisel"; literally, "gouger"), {teywI'} ("file"; literally, "scraper"), and {ghItlhwI'} ("stylus"). The word {ghItlhwI'} (literally, "engraver") is also used for any writing implement

KGT 80:   ... an implement called a {rItlh naQ} ("pigment stick"), a stick with flattened ends.

KGT 112:   The verb {bI'} ("sweep") refers to the action of pushing  something out of the way by using an implement or the forearm as if it were a broom.

KGT 205:    The differences between cultures plays a critical role here. Some words lack direct equivalents simply because they refer to concepts embedded in one culture but not the other. Thus, though conventional translations exist, there are not really one-for-one matches for various weapons, food-preparation implements, and so on.

Since qep'a' 2018 we now have {SommI’} "tool, implement, instrument" available.  (AFAIK there are no examples used in a sentence as yet.)  "Tool" as used by Okrand in KGT:

TKD 9:  There are certainly more Klingon words than those listed here. Three groups of words in particular are, for the most part, unrepresented: scientific terminology; words for native tools, customs, flora, and fauna […] Klingon words for traditional tools and long-standing customs are difficult to translate into English. 

KGT 61:  By the same token, a blade not designed as a weapon may be used as a weapon if need be, though to be attacked by a warrior wielding something that is normally classified as a tool is considered by some to be an insult to one's honor.

KGT 79-80:   In addition to the specialized tools, any blade ('etlh), even if designed for other purposes, may be used as a sculpting tool. Kahless himself is said to have used his bat'leth, the original "Sword of Honor," to carve a statue for the woman he loved, presumably Lukara.

KGT 62:    In addition, there are also a number of knives designed not as weapons but rather as tools, used only for cutting. These are not as sharp as the weapon knives, nor as artfully decorated. While it is not uncommon to praise the workmanship or design of a warrior's knives, it is important to focus only on the weapons. To praise the tools is an insult. The general term for a knife used as a tool is the same term used for a knife as a weapon, namely {taj}. If context is unclear, this could lead to some confusion. When clarity is required, the tool knife may be called a {pe'meH taj}, a "knife for cutting."

KGT 66:  The word {chetvI'} refers to both the tool used to help throw the tlhevjaQ spear and also a torpedo tube of a particular kind.

KGT 131:  Significantly, the usual phrase used to describe the opposite condition--that is, "dull, blunt"--makes reference not to a weapon but to a tool:  {jejHa'; naH taj rur} ("dull as vegetable knife"). A {naH taj} ("vegetable knife" or "fruit knife") is hardly a dull instrument, but it does not come close to the sharpness of a *d'k tagh*.


My take on all this is that in "modern" 24th century Klingon {jan} is most often used for more sophisticated mechanical devices.  {SommI'} would refer to simpler, more traditional tools and implements.  Like an anchor, for example.

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons


------------------------------Original Message------------------------------
From: Daniel Dadap
> On Apr 8, 2019, at 06:27, mayqel qunen'oS <mihkoun at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have the impression, that {jan} is to be used for "more sophisticated" devices, i.e. 
> electronics, or even wooden devices but with more parts, than a simple anchor.

{jan} is also used for musical instruments, and at least on Earth, we have musical instruments that are as simple as pieces of wood for banging together. Even a simple instrument such as that, though, has some amount of design that goes into it for optimal function (type of wood, size and shape, etc.).
     [....]
I don’t know where Klingons draw the line between what is a {jan} and what is not, but I never felt like “sophistication” was one of the criteria for that.




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